Sorry to hear that Reba - I totally feel your pain. I'll post seperately so as not to hijack your thread, but maybe you and I could swap stories and reviews on what works and what doesn't, as time goes on? I'd sure appreciate it

i have a second opinion appointment with reba's old vet on aug. 31 after i get back from vacation. they told me that they don't like to prescribe rimadyl unless it's a really extreme situation.

maybe they will have some less toxic suggestions.

in the meantime, reba's bloodwork came back tonight and it turns out she also has very low thyroid and very high cholesterol. so they are prescribing thyroid meds and told me they don't want to put any more drugs into her till that is regulated.

Hope everything goes well for Reba on the 31st. You may wish to talk to Rumpley about NSAIDS - she's been through all that stuff. Her dog did very well on Rimadyl FWIW. My vet says the horror stories about liver damage are somewhat exagerrated - while it's a serious drug with many possible side effects, the liver problems have largely been observed in labs, and the drug helps more dogs than it harms.

Hey, how much on average does blood work cost? Angel's only ever had one blood test, when she was puking up blood a year ago spring, and I forget how much it was - I was a bit overwhelmed by the x-rays, blood, her staying at the vets, and the whole fear of her dying thing...

The biggest problem for me personally is that Reba is mostly Lab. I adopted her as a lab/pit bull mix when she was about 4 mos. old and she has outgrown a lot of what looked like pit bull over the years, so I still wonder if there's any pit in her at all. She's small (65 pounds), she's always been a low-rider in build, and she's got thick but very short coat, small sorta rose prick ears, and a tenaciousness that screams terrier. Could be pit mix but I'm sure she could be a mix of something else too. And I worry that she might be a "something else" that could be a bad mix with Rimadyl.

She's definitely mostly lab, whatever her mix is, and I'm terrified that she might end up really suffering on Rimadyl. But then I know a few people who've used it with success. I've been going back and forth for the last 24 hours . . . it's so killing me. But you are in the same boat, Chilli, so I guess we can agonize and cry together a bit. God, every time I post my eyes well up. I love this dog so much. I feel like she's more than just my dog or my friend, I kinda feel like she raised me. She's been with me since I've been 20 years old. Now I'm 31, and my entire adult life she's been there with me through every stupid moron moment.

Oh I'm so sorry! I feel like an insensitive dolt - I'd forgotten Reba was mostly lab. I would definitely talk to your vet about other options.

I have some other suggestions you may want to look into though

You may wish to discuss with your vet whether having artificial joint fluid injected would be beneficial. It's not viable with Angel, as her knee issue isn't femur against tibia, it's patella against everything. I don't know the physiology of a dog's elbow, so maybe joint fluid would be helpful there?

Also, cortisone injections are safe, and they WORK. They're also fairly reasonable I believe - they inject cortisone into the affected joint, and usually there's a couple of rough days, and then relief. It's a temporary fix, and I don't know that it actually heals anything or even prevents deterioration, but it does reduce the inflammation and the pain.

Acupuncture is also supposed to be good for stuff like that - many people swear by it.

i had a freind who had a pit with hip displasy (not sure about the spelling) and the vet told them that they would have to put the dog down when she was only 8 weeks old due to how bad it was. she didn't seem to be in much pain so they went to a different vet who gave medication. the dog lived to 14 years old. they allowed her to jump on the couch but they didn't walk her at all. they tied her out to the porch for a couple hours to do her bussiness and get some freash air than they let her back in. she after 14 years had to be put to sleep but not because of her hips but because of old age. she's still missed but she was a great dog who had a great life. i hope that gives you some hope for your baby!!!

Trust me try Synflex. Stitch used some glucosamine tablets before and no change, but when I switched him to Synflex there was a dramatic change. There have also been other people who have had the same experience and they love Synflex. I sound like an ad, I should get paid for this.